City tourism as a key driver for sustainable development in Cairo Metropolitan: Challenges and opportunities

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.

2 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.

Abstract

City tourism has increasingly become a dominant trend in many destinations worldwide. Due to its various benefits across the cities and beyond, many countries have targeted enhancing the tourism profiles of their major cities and/or metropolises to develop them into global tourism destinations. Moreover, many tourism academics and practitioners have contributed to our understanding of the concept and benefits of city tourism on local communities. Nevertheless, most of the available literature to date is based on the experience of cities and metropolises in the developed world, while little attention has been given to this domain in the developing countries. This article aims to investigate the challenges and opportunities of city tourism as a key driver for sustainable development in Egypt with particular emphasis on Cairo Metropolitan area as an urban destination suitable for both long and short breaks. The study depended on both primary and secondary data sources and encompassed two methods of qualitative data collection: observation and interviews.  The study concludes by developing a conceptual framework for boosting Cairo Metropolitan into a global tourism city and giving a number of recommendations on how to enhance the tourism profile of urban destinations for the welfare of local communities. 

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